Improvement in shifting-rails for carriage-seats



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN FELLOIYS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO IIIMSELF AND ALBERT CAR-D, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENTIIN SHIFTING-RAILS FOR CARRIAGE-SEATS.

Specification forming part of LettcrsPatent No. 58,5412, dated October Q, 1366.

o alt 101mm t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN FELLOWS, of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shifting-Rails for Carriage-Seats; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact de scription thereof', reference being had to the accompanying' drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the seat with the rail attached; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the rail detached; and Fig. 3, a side view of a brace or support.

Like letters refer to similar parts in all of the figures.

rThe nature and object of my invention consist in so constructing the shifting-rail of a carriage-seat that it can be attached to and removed from any form of seat with ease and rapidity, and when detached present no projecting` points to catch or injure clothing. In the shifting-rails heretofore in use it is impossible to attach them safely to any carriageseat except those having a straight back, for when attached with hooks and eyes they cannot be turned on a seat with a circular or curved back, and use more than one hook at the back, (unless placed close together,) which is insufficient, and all of them present projections at the sides of the seat, which are annoying, and frequently damage clothing when the carriage-top is removed, and it is impossible to cover them in trimming so as to avoid this and to avoid a row of unsightly projections around the seat, while in my device they are so covered that they cannot reach the clothing, and are scarcely seen, and can be attached as easily to a circular or curved seat as to a square or straight backed one, and it also consists in locating the spurs of the rail horizontally, for by so locating them those at the front operate as keys for those at the back, and the front ones being sprung in the whole is attached without the use of a pin or key; but for absolute safety the front ones are pinned or keyed. These spurs being made with a slight taper, as shown, when they are drawn and sprung in they are tight, so that there is no rattling' jar to the top or play between the shifting-rail and the seat, but the whole is as irm as though the seat and top were made together, which effect is increased by extending the bars D down to the bottom of the seat and fastening them to it.

I am aware that shifting-rails have been heretofore known and used; `and I do not claim such rail as of my invention. lWIy invention removes the chief objections which have heretofore 'been urged against them.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed tol de scribe its construction.

The seat A is made in any of the usual modes, except that it is made even at the top. I then attach four braces, as shown in Figs. l and 3. These braces D, at their upper ends, are provided with heads extending laterally the thickness ot' the side of the seat, but not so as to project over. In this head I make a small mortise or slot, a. They are then fitted to the seat, and the heads eut in and sunk nearly even with the top line of the seat, so that when the seat is covered or trimmed they will not show. rIhe mortises or holes a, when the brace is in position, are horizontal. I then make my shifting-rail, of iron or other suitable material, in a form fitting the contour ofthe seat, and at the back attach two or more projections or keys, e, which fit into the holes or cavities a of the brace D without any wedges, keys, hooks, or pins. At or near the front ends of the rail I attach similar spurs or projections d, which are fitted to the holes a of the braces D, and are inserted by spring'- iug the rail C outward, which, owing to the length of the rail, is not difcult; and in or der to prevent them from springing out when in use, I pin or wedge them in through the head, as shown at f, or by a simple pin withe out an armor attachment, which I prefer. By putting the pin-hole at the side ofthe mortises a they can be keyed in.

The spurs d, by the peculiar. arrangement, act as keys for the spurs e, so that the rail is firmly and securely attached to the seat.

The carriage-top, made in the usual way, is secured to the rail at c c and the top braces at b.

The board B, or lazy-back;7 as it is usually' at their upper ends with heads having slots or inortises on the plane of the seat, and fitted to the seat so as not to project beyond, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The arrangement and combination of the braces D, with the spurs or projections e c and d d, with the rail C and carriage-seat, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

J OHN FELLOWS.

Witnesses:

L. L. BOND, E. A. WEST. 

